A lot, however, has happened since – including the second wave, the emergence of scary new variants, and the roll-out of vaccines. Concluding his narrative last autumn, Ferguson predicts the Covid-19 pandemic will be remembered not in the same league as the 1918 Spanish influenza, but rather the (now largely forgotten) Asian flu of 1957.

Another problem with this book is that it is already outdated, said Mark Whitaker in The Washington Post. Too often, he finds midlevel managers at fault.The disasters he investigates cover the spectrum from war to pathogens, floods, earthquakes and in the end, planetary invasions. The bestselling British historian offers his thoughts on major disasters, including the current pandemic, with an emphasis on why humans handle them so badly. When not playing with such grand concepts, he indulges in tiresome liberal-baiting – describing Black Lives Matter as a “contagion”. In Doom, Niall Ferguson roams the world, history and even science fiction to examine disasters. Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe by Niall Ferguson Paperback 19.00 Hardcover 25.49 Paperback 19.00 eBook 6.99 Audiobook 0. Was the pandemic a black swan (an unexpected event that catches humanity unawares), a grey rhino (an obviously dangerous event that people nonetheless do nothing about), or a dragon king (an event that flattens civilisation)?įerguson says it was a grey rhino. His book, however, is an unconvincing blend of “statements of the readily apparent” and laborious theorising. In January 2020, as he reminds us on the opening page, he predicted that it would create a global pandemic, and “was regarded as eccentric”. DOOM THE POLITICS OF CATASTROPHE by Niall Ferguson RELEASE DATE: The bestselling British historian offers his thoughts on major disasters, including the current pandemic, with an emphasis on why humans handle them so badly. Ferguson has one good reason to claim to be an authority on catastrophes, said David Aaronovitch in The Times: he was quick to grasp the seriousness of Covid-19. Drawing from multiple disciplines, including economics and network science, Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe offers not just a history but a general theory of disaster.

Doom by niall ferguson